‘Shock the world.’ Clover football determined to prove itself against No. 1 Dorman.
In retrospect, senior linebacker Hayden Johnson remembers his game-changing play differently than everyone else.
There were less than two minutes until halftime, the Clover football team (12-0) with a 35-21 edge over Mauldin in the second round of the 5A state playoffs. The Blue Eagles had only three players on the line, as if they were expecting a pass play, but Mauldin handed the ball off from the shotgun and ran it up the middle.
“I messed up to begin with because I was trying to do too much, which I do a lot,” Johnson said, laughing afterward. “I turned around and saw him just running down the field, and I just kind of thought to myself, ‘oh man, we’re going to get yelled at if I don’t tackle him.’”
What happened next went down as one of the plays of the game — one of the best plays of this Clover football team’s undefeated season, really. Johnson chased the ball-carrier down from 75 yards, stripped him from behind and Clover recovered.
“I just ran down the field and tried to make a play, and it ended up working out in our favor,” Johnson said. “You know, there were a bunch of other guys hustling down there with me, and we just happened to get the ball back, too.”
This sort of play, head coach Brian Lane said, epitomizes his team — one that carries with them a contradictory dichotomy of perceptions: undefeated, yet always the underdog.
And when the Blue Eagles welcome Dorman to Memorial Stadium on Friday night, they’re prepared to have plenty to prove.
“It’s just adding motivation,” said Jaylin Lane, Clover’s leading wide receiver, “to go shock the world.”
A reminder about Clover football
Since the end of the regular season, the Blue Eagles have achieved their first region championship since 2006 and their only undefeated regular season in modern program history, which dates back to 1951.
The team’s average margin of victory is more than 31 points a game. Its signal-caller, senior quarterback Gabe Carroll, was voted the Tri-County Coaches Association’s 5A, 4A, offensive player of the year. His favorite target, Lane, will play in the Shrine Bowl. Senior receiver Zacch Davis scored three touchdowns last week. Senior receiver Zion Robbins caught two touchdowns.
On defense, defensive lineman JQ Guinn and Johnson are North-South All-Stars. And Shon Brown and Jaylon Ballard have been wreaking havoc in opposing backfields all season.
Guinn, who can come across as shy off the field but is formidable on it, said everyone on the defense can and is responsible for making plays.
“Everybody on the defense is a playmaker,” Guinn said. “We work together. We’re a team. We do it all together.”
Clover’s defense caused four turnovers last week, including three in the first half.
“We set (our offense) up, give them good looks,” Guinn said. “We know they can score. We just got to give them good field position.”
Scouting report of Dorman
Dorman is undefeated, too. The Cavaliers are No. 1 in the state, according to MaxPreps, and have emerged as the champions of what is widely believed to be the toughest region in South Carolina, if not the Southeast (Region II, 5A).
Dorman’s coach, Dave Gutshall, took up the program’s helm in 1993. He picked up his 400th win earlier this season.
Coach Lane said he remembers playing against a squad Gutshall coached early in his tenure, when Lane was a junior quarterback at Byrnes.
“That was his first year at Dorman, about 25-26 years ago,” Lane said about Gutshall. “And he’s still there, still winning, and it’s just a blessing to coach against a legend like that. He’s going to have those guys ready, and we just got to be ready to play.”
Dorman’s 2019 team is one that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, Lane said. The team’s offense is led by its running back, Chance Black, who has run for nearly 811 yards and earned 12 total touchdowns, and a pair of receivers, Kendall Norman and Jayvon Cohen.
“They’re just a quality, well-coached team, and we got to play our best game of the year to move on to the next round,” Lane said. “It’ll come down to mental mistakes and field positions.”
‘Ready to play’
Senior defensive tackle Shon Brown said a lot of this group have been together since his sophomore year.
“It’s a really strong brotherhood around here,” Brown said. “We’re always (here) for each other. We’re always with each other, and we just gotta fight with each other every day.”
This Clover football team has a striking amount of goals.
It has game-by-game goals. The defense, for instance, has a goal of achieving three-plus turnovers every game.
It has overarching goals for its season. Lane has enumerated them several times this season — win your first game; beat your rival (York); make the playoffs; champion the region; practice on Thanksgiving morning; and take the state championship.
But this team, which has played a blemish-free season, is excited to prove itself to everyone, including itself, on Friday night.
Said Brown: “We’re just ready to get out there.”
Want to go?
When? 7:30 p.m., Friday
Where? Memorial Stadium, 300 Clinton Ave. Clover, S.C.
Tickets? $8 at the door
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 4:10 PM.
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